Fairer political representation
Has the time come for proportional representation? Photo: Raj Anikat/ Drik News
THE two recent elections were very important milestones in the establishment of democracy in Bangladesh. The parliamentary election was almost flawless, mainly due to the voter list with photo identification and the strict maintenance of law and order. Over 80% of the electorate, including unprecedented numbers of female and first time voters, cast their votes. The Upazila Parishad elections, not as flawless, were nevertheless of great significance as this was the first UP elections since the restoration of democracy in 1991. Although money still played a big role in the selection and election process, the elections were fairer than ever before. But do the results fairly represent the wishes of the electorate, and can the electoral process be made more representative and effective? The "first past the post" system cannot truly reflect the wishes of the electorate. In the 2001 election, the Awami League received over 40% of the votes and 20% of the seats. In the recent election, BNP received 33% of the votes and only 10% of the seats. Conversely, the winners in both elections ended up with over 66% of the seats. Such majorities in the past have spelled doom for the ruling parties and caused immense misery to the nation. A vibrant and fully operational local government system is essential for regional development in Bangladesh. This should be implemented through the upazilas and union parishads. However, unless the roles of MPs and UP chairmen are unambiguously demarcated there is potential for confrontation, especially if the MPs are allowed to have electoral offices in the upazilas. From the proceedings in parliament it appears that most MPs are unaware that regional development is not their responsibility but that of regional governments. Under the current system, voters within specific upazilas elect MPs, and they feel compelled to assume responsibility for the development of the upazilas so as not to lose electoral support. This essentially negates the role of local governments. All these problems can be resolved by conducting the election of MPs through proportional representation within multi-seat electorates based on the current districts rather than upazilas. Since the electorate would belong to the district, MPs would not feel the need to interfere with the activities of elected governments in the upazilas and unions. The MPs could be provided electoral offices in the district HQ, and could be included as members of District Councils together with UP chairmen and vice-chairmen so that all of them could be involved in policy development and in the assessment of progress at the regional level. Proportional representation would also banish brute majorities in parliament and perhaps allow the election of talented MPs from outside the two major alliances. They could provide much needed alternate views in parliament. An unprecedented number of women voted in the recent parliamentary election. Females constitute 51% of the electorate but a very small number of women received nomination. In spite of this, 19 women defeated their male adversaries in direct competition; the numbers could have been much higher if more women had been nominated. It's not fair that, being more than half of the population; women should occupy less than 15% of the contested seats in parliament. Laws need to be enacted so that in the next election each political party must nominate at least 30% women as candidates. There are 45 additional seats reserved for women, who will owe their position to the goodwill of their mainly male colleagues. This is not only demeaning to these ladies but the fact that they did not have to seek the approval of the electorate means that they will have a de facto status inferior to their directly elected female colleagues. It's perhaps necessary to maintain reserved seats for women, and also increase their number, for the next two or three parliaments. However, from the next election onwards, one or more reserved seats could be allocated to each district and the electorate of that district could directly elect women candidates for the reserved seats. The realisation of a "Digital Bangladesh" requires technology oriented parliamentary standing committees with scientists and technologists as members. Since such expertise is not available among the membership of the current parliament it is necessary to induct specialists into the relevant parliamentary standing committees and think-tanks. The national parliament should preferably also have representation from those segments of society that make the biggest contribution to our foreign exchange earnings, such as the RMG workers and the six million NRBs who, at the moment, do not even have the right to vote. In the national interest, and indeed in the interest of the two major parties also, alternate modes of democratic representation need to be discussed and debated in parliament and within the wider community so that a fairer system can be adopted.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments